San Rafael council to meet on soccer complex

After more than seven years of study and debate, city officials will consider whether to approve a proposed $6 million to $8 million sports complex next to Gallinas Creek at San Rafael Airport on Monday.

Proposed by San Rafael Airport LLC, the complex would include an 86,000-square-foot building with indoor soccer, a dance and gymnastics area and a cafe with wine and beer. It would also include two outdoor turf fields, one of them with lights.

Supporters, including several soccer leagues, the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce and Marin County Sheriff Bob Doyle argue the complex would ease a severe shortage of field space in the county.

"Marin is behind the curve when it comes to providing athletic facilities for the kids," said Jose Ortiz, a board member for the San Rafael Soccer Club.

Opponents, including neighbors and environmental groups such as the Marin Conservation League, the Gallinas Creek Watershed Council and the Center for Biological Diversity argue the project would disturb the neighborhood, harm wildlife, worsen flood risks and endanger athletes who would be playing near the runway.

"If they are going to build a facility that's got bright lights at night, do it by something that's industrial," said Greg Waters, who lives near the project in the Santa Venetia neighborhood. "Don't do it by a marsh."

The San Rafael Planning Commission voted 5-1 in June, with Commissioner Dan Sonnet dissenting, to recommend approval of the project but the final decision rests with the City Council.

The city has received hundreds of letters from supporters and opponents, including the Tucson, Ariz.-based Center for Biological Diversity, which has collected thousands of signatures, citing a threat to the endangered clapper rail. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also submitted a letter expressing concern about the endangered bird and the salt marsh harvest mouse.

Supporters of the project say animals can adjust to human disturbances, and that they will be protected by a nine-foot-tall levee and 100 feet of buffer space, in addition to technologies that limit the spread of artificial light.